Discussing the Rayman 2's Alternative Ending

[12RayChienne9]

Well, well... Have you ever played any version of Rayman 2 (excluiding the PlayStation version and the Game Boy Color one) and you have "defeated" Jano? There are only two options: take the treasure or refuse his offer.

We know what happens when Rayman refuse Jano's offer, but little is known about Rayman 2's Alternative Ending. This topic is inspired by a topic which many Spanish-talking Rayman fans talked in a Spanish Rayman-related forum: http://mundo-de-rayman.foroactivo.com/t ... lternativo

I will ask a number of questions: Do you want to take over the Cave of Bad Dreams' treasure or not? How would you react with the alternative ending, even if you meet in real life? What would happen if the third opinion named "I wanna set my buddies free!", if included, is selected by Rayman? What is your opinion on Rayman 2's Alternative Ending? What will happen next if Rayman accepts Jano's offer?

My answers are:
1. I won't take the treasure because money doesn't give me happiness. The family is more important and money can be helped in something.
2. If I met Rayman 2's Alternative Ending in the real life, I will freak out and I will run away because I think Rayman 2's Alternative Ending will attack me or even do something wrong. (Well, it's my imagination)
3. If "I wanna set my buddies free!" wasn't scrapped, Rayman would throw the coin and he will be teleported going back in time, to the events prior the pirates invasion. So I imagine Rayman warning the events about the pirates and everyone prepares for the war. They manage to defeat the Robo-Pirates and they were happy.
4. My opinion is that I don't like it. I had always satirized Rayman 2's Alternative Ending many times: record a serious LPS-themed video, include it in a spoof of the gossip magazines, include it in a Family Guy-related meme where Peter Griffin dies by watching something... (Well, please respect my opinion if you have a different opinion about it.)
5. After he chooses the treasure... I prefer not to think about it.

[PluMGMK]

This seems to be an unusual discussion topic, but here goes:

1. In my case, when I first heard Jano discussing "treasure", I assumed he was referring to the Elixir, which is what I was coming for. In that case, being surrounded by gold, the answer is obviously, "this isn't what I came for!". In real life, would I take gold I found in an infernal location? Seems like a pretty silly and Faustian thing to do tbh. So the answer is no.
2. Not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean if you ended up in Rayman's situation, alone on a desert island? Or just somehow being confronted by the vision of Rayman in that situation? In the latter case, I don't really get what frightens you so. Is it Rayman's grotesque size? The fact that he's supposed to be a hero but doesn't seem to care anymore? I'm really curious now.
3. Presumably, "I wanna set my buddies free!" comes from an early draft of the story, possibly in which Jano was to be fought in a more intense boss fight, and in which he had actually captured Rayman's friends himself. It was probably another trick/illusory choice, just like "I want the treasure" is in the final game.
4. My opinion? It's a nice touch, and a warning to players not to choose wealth over helping a friend in dire need…
5. I don't think Rayman can accept the treasure. Not really. The gold shining in his eyes, and the "teleportation", indicate that he's considering the outcome, and that he's entertaining a nightmarish vision of what would happen if he picked it. He always teleports right back, to retry the decision. He's too pure of heart to choose the treasure for real…

[12RayChienne9]

This seems to be an unusual discussion topic, but here goes:

1. In my case, when I first heard Jano discussing "treasure", I assumed he was referring to the Elixir, which is what I was coming for. In that case, being surrounded by gold, the answer is obviously, "this isn't what I came for!". In real life, would I take gold I found in an infernal location? Seems like a pretty silly and Faustian thing to do tbh. So the answer is no.
2. Not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean if you ended up in Rayman's situation, alone on a desert island? Or just somehow being confronted by the vision of Rayman in that situation? In the latter case, I don't really get what frightens you so. Is it Rayman's grotesque size? The fact that he's supposed to be a hero but doesn't seem to care anymore? I'm really curious now.
3. Presumably, "I wanna set my buddies free!" comes from an early draft of the story, possibly in which Jano was to be fought in a more intense boss fight, and in which he had actually captured Rayman's friends himself. It was probably another trick/illusory choice, just like "I want the treasure" is in the final game.
4. My opinion? It's a nice touch, and a warning to players not to choose wealth over helping a friend in dire need…
5. I don't think Rayman can accept the treasure. Not really. The gold shining in his eyes, and the "teleportation", indicate that he's considering the outcome, and that he's entertaining a nightmarish vision of what would happen if he picked it. He always teleports right back, to retry the decision. He's too pure of heart to choose the treasure for real…

Thank you very much for answering these questions that I proposed. I will answer some of your questions that sound interesting:
- Maybe the second question is actually referring when someone is confronted by the vision of Rayman in that situation.
- Rayman's grotesque size in "I want the treasure" scene really scares me.
That is all that I have answered the questions that you said in a more or less direct way towards me.

[Steo]

That's what I thought, since you also mentioned the thoughts of a character being bubblized scared you.

As for the alternative ending, I always just thought of it as a vision in Rayman's head if you were to take the treasure. It doesn't really happen, and it's basically like having a look at Rayman's thought bubble. For that reason, I never really looked into it too much.

[PluMGMK]

There's the interpretation that the entire Cave of Bad Dreams was just a nightmare in Rayman's own head (even though in non-PS2 versions he finds Lums in there ), so this would just be a particularly bad turn that the nightmare could take.

[Steo]

I never did think about the Lums actually, he just ends up in the Marshes again in the same place where you entered the level, so I'd assume it was all a "bad dream". He does fall into a spiral door at the beginning though, unless that was all in his head too.

The Dreamcast version doesn't leave you in the Marshes, it puts you back to the Isle of Doors, but it shows the cutscene of Rayman arriving at the marshes again then walking away, so it's like he just left the area himself.

[PluMGMK]

The spiral door is real, since you can go back to it afterwards when Jano disappears. I think it's in his head too though in some way, considering that the spirals appear in his eyes…

[Steo]

I suppose that's a good way of looking at it, anything seen in his eyes is all in his head.

[12RayChienne9]

Okay... So the "I want the treasure" is actually Rayman's nightmare?

In my fanverse, Rayman 2's Alternative Ending is one of Rayman's evil clones who is an invasive species in the Cuteverse, an universe where Littlest Pet Shop pets live. The desert island where Rayman 2's alternative ending is set was originally a harmless amusement park founded in the 15th century, so in the year 1995, the amusement park was destroyed by a thunderstorm, forcing the Littlest Pets to flee from there. After the destruction of the amusement park, Jano went to the now deserted island and he turned it into a stereotyped desert island. Then, he created a puppet which resembles a distorted version of Rayman and he used it to scare intruders. In my inner world, Rayman 2's Alternative Ending is represented as a villain who likes to see the fictional characters suffer. Well, my "fan-information" of Rayman 2's Alternative Ending is more like a Rayman/Littlest Pet Shop crossoveric backstory than a crossoveric theory. I always satirize Rayman 2's alternative ending because I don't like it, so I own a crossoveric, satirical Littlest Pet Shop-related video where the "I want the treasure" scene is a key plot.

Forgive me if I changed the subject slightly...

[deton24]

One trivia about the "I want the gold" scene.

It's very small area where Rayman seems to look as very big, enlarged figure.
The area only served for this one particular cutscene to show one scene from a distance, hence the simplification.
It's not built like normal explorable areas.

I need to admit, that dubbed scene from PS1 after Jano fight makes even more fearful impression than on PC. Rayman sounds like very excited about the gold...

[Elite Piranha]

One trivia about the "I want the gold" scene.

It's very small area where Rayman seems to look as very big, enlarged figure.
The area only served for this one particular cutscene to show one scene from a distance, hence the simplification.
It's not built like normal explorable areas.

I need to admit, that dubbed scene from PS1 after Jano fight makes even more fearful impression than on PC. Rayman sounds like very excited about the gold...

Thanks for the trivia! Btw, here is a video of someone accessing and exploring the area where the alternative ending takes place (in case anyone is interested).

[12RayChienne9]

One trivia about the "I want the gold" scene.

It's very small area where Rayman seems to look as very big, enlarged figure.
The area only served for this one particular cutscene to show one scene from a distance, hence the simplification.
It's not built like normal explorable areas.

I need to admit, that dubbed scene from PS1 after Jano fight makes even more fearful impression than on PC. Rayman sounds like very excited about the gold...

Thanks for the trivia! Btw, here is a video of someone accessing and exploring the area where the alternative ending takes place (in case anyone is interested).

Yeah, so do you mean the video called "Various Rayman 2 Stuff"?

Let me say Rayman 2's Alternative Ending has got three unpleasant pictures based on itself. One of them which it's called "Rayman 2 Ending - Reprised" traumatized me when I was 14 years old. One method is that if you search in Google Pictures "Rayman 2 Ending", "Rayman Ending" or "Rayman 2 Alternative Ending", you will find it. Other method is when you search in Google Pictures "Rayman 2 Cave of Bad Dreams" and you click a picture about "I want the treasure" scene, then you should click the video Various Rayman 2 Stuff's thumbnail or the video Rayman 2 (PC) - Undiscovered Cave of Bad Dreams "ending"'s thumbnail; once you've done, see below and you will found the unpleasant art named Rayman 2 Ending - Reprised.

[deton24]

Speaking about the trauma... When I was passing the game as a kid, I got stuck on a selection screen between choosing gold or treasure is not for me.
Selection was set by default to gold, and the game was infinitely redirecting to Game Over cutscene when Space was constantly pressed.
Scarcely few months later I somehow figured out to use arrows on that selection screen...

[PluMGMK]

It did take me a few tries to figure out I could select on that all right…

[12RayChienne9]

Speaking about trauma... When I was passing the game as a kid, I got stuck on selection screen between choosing gold or treasure is not for me.
Selection was set by default to gold, and the game was infinitely redirecting to Game Over cutscene when Space was constantly pressed.
Scarcely few months later I somehow figured out to use arrows on that selection screen...

I didn't know you were traumatized. Well, at least the PlayStation version and the Game Boy Color version don't contain the alternative ending.

Oh, by the way! I already overcame the trauma before. But althought I overcame it, Rayman 2's Alternative Ending still scares me.

[deton24]

Actually, even the sound of this game over scene is traumatising, and sometimes sounds in my head when I suddenly screw up something to this day.

As a kid, during the first gameplay, I remembered the whole level as traumatising.
It was early, gloomy morning, 20-25 FPS on Pentium MMX 166MHz and some integrated GPU.

And that first Jano chase when I actually felt the real fear...

First encounters of Jano in Marshes, with his strange speech, and scene with Rayman struggling with teleporting to CoBD. He was screaming and strangely hanging above the ground for some time.

Later I played exactly the same level on PSX in my friend's house. He and his house was a bit like a bad dream. It was my the first and the very last visit there.
His socks always smelled, and father was an alcoholic.
Though I had liked PSX.

[Hunchman801]

I thought it was pretty cool. The gloomy atmosphere of Rayman's vision of himself stranded on a desert island with a useless pile of gold, while the outside world has probably been destroyed by the pirates, is a nice follow-up to the Cave of Bad Dreams itself.

[deton24]

And that's because it's traumatizing vision.
Even more seeing the scene in a loop and couldn't choose other option.
ANd tHAT mUSIc

[dr_st]

Gee, and here I was thinking this thread would be about the alternate ending where Rayman actually dies in the Grolgoth explosion.

[12RayChienne9]

Gee, and here I was thinking this thread would be about the alternate ending where Rayman actually dies in the Grolgoth explosion.

In my opinion, an alternative ending about Rayman dying during the explosion is better than the actual ending (an overweight Rayman in a deserted island with a lot of gold ), but it's worse than the true ending (Rayman being a survivor of the explosion, much to his allies' delight).